Resurrecting the Sousa- Band Instrument Repair Metalwork 

Amazing, first that it ended up in such bad condition, second that you could do such a great job of fixing it.

Jesus!!! Does Godzilla chew that Souzaphone?!!! You are a national hero.

I marched Sousaphone back in High School, I always quipped that I was into Heavy Metal! Man I miss it...thanks for bringing this bad boy back to life!

I know nothing about musical instruments... but this stuff is fascinating! The metal work is awesome!

Wes, you really make these videos so entertaining, even to a non-tech like me. And it shows in the number of subscribers in such a short amount of time. Fantastic job!

I really like how when using the magnetics, you can hear it go from a rough sound to the ball rolling smooth when the dent is out.

I love coming back and watching this repair. It cheers me up. No matter how bad it looks/gets, it will always get better.

Well that was awesome! Thank you again for sharing your talent with us. Seems like part of that metal memory is also to know who’s the boss.

How amazing is it that thse beautiful instruments can be revived and brought back from the dead!!! What an amazing skill to have, your abilities and knowledge are impecable! Simply amazing man!!!

What an amazing transformation! You certainly are an artist in your work and must derive such satisfaction from a job so well done👍. Thanks for posting!

Another successful challenge accomplished! Great work Wes!

Your ability go for metal is absolutely incredible👏🏻👍🏆

Whenever I come accross one of your videos it just grabs my attention. You are a master keep posting you just inspire to become a better musician and repair tech.

Oh man what a great job! And it was fascinating to watch and understand those tools.

Fantastic dent job for this poor sousa ! I would not have thought it was possible without removing the reinforcing strip/wire... you proved me wrong.

one of the smOOOOOOOOOOthest and most talented and skilled metal worker ive ever seen mike

Absolutely amazing work!

I have done this kind of work before. Its physically exhausting. Much respect to you, sir!

hallucinant, incroyable résultat: de la magie, vraiment!!! Bravo, quel art!!!!!

Very satisfying to watch a master at work

Beautiful. Brings back memories from when I was in band in junior high. That was one of the three instruments I played.

The work you do is incredible! Keep it up we love to see it 🙏

awesome workmanship and patience.

I love to watch a skilled craftsman and you sir, are a skilled craftsman! Thanks for sharing your time and talent! KANSAS

Wow, beautiful work! It looks like it spent more time in the school's auto shop than the band room.

...grande abilità e pazienza di questo raro Maestro ❤🙏

WOW!!! Those tools of yours got a work out on that instrument. Watched the video 2 times. A great repair was well worth it. I hope we get to hear You Blow some of the 1st notes through it.

The man is an absolute master!! amazing work!! Thanks for bringing us.

Z wielką przyjemnością oglądam zamieszczane przez Ciebie filmy i podziwiam Twój kunszt. Pozdrawiam.

extremely underrated! Wow, this work, it looks amazing!

This is such an amazing and entertaining process to watch.

I wouldn’t have believed it was possible to resurrect that horn! Loved the closeup shots while you were working.

incredible work

Well done! Looks great.

It's wonderful work as well as the art that the instruments produce an artist is needed to make and restore them. Now i'm sure if this guy opened the coconut with just one hand.

AMAZING Work!!

Have been looking forward to this. Not disappointed. 😁

Wow! This puts emphasis on one “putting lots of effort” into the job!

That's amazing! Thanks for sharing!

Nothing short of magic. Most shops would use this Sousaphone as a wall hanger…….”Kids, show some love to our school instruments!”

Fantastic job

Good evening sir, if I had not seen this repair I would not have believed it. My next issue is why would someone do this to fine musical instrument. They are damn lucky someone like you can pull their fat out of the fire. Thanks for sharing your skills and expertise. Truly a craftsman. You take care and good luck.

Skill and patience - superhero level.

IMO you put 10X the work into fixing it than what it took to make it in the first place. Master Craftsman!!

Amazing skill. Wonderful to watch. Was wondering if you could add a little background on how such beautiful instruments were neglected or abused. Keep up the great work.

The school system in your area is so lucky to have you, Wes. You more than give back to the community. That instrument looked like it should be hung on a wall at a pizza joint never to be played again. Some lucky kid is going to reap the rewards of your hard generous work!

Good work. From France.

Boa noite mestre.! Esse deu muito trabalho.Parabens nota 1000.

Wow ,that thing was fubar (f@#ked up beyond ANY recognition ) I'm definitely bringing my holten TR 395 Superbone down to you to restore , my bell is good , it just has a little damage around the brace, and needs a re lacquer job . I actually called your shop last week but I'll get in touch with you again .awesome work .

Being a autobody man of 28yrs straightening sheet metal virtually all my life, I can really appreciate this repair. Typically, in the automotive industry, something that was this bad would be sent to the junk yard and “totaled out”…..meaning it’s a total loss and it would be cheaper to replace it with a new one rather trying to fix it which would cost way more in labor hours. WOW! Your definitely very talented with metal work 👍 nice work 🙂

Great job.

You are like Magneto from XMen, with metal. Awesome.

WOW! You work magic!!!

👍👍👍 metalworking at its finest !

Bravo...! Maestro...!

A true master craftsman

Way back in the dark ages, I was in Junior High* band. I attended three schools, and all three had instruments in the same condition as that poor Sousaphone was when you started. My young self thought "Those are done. There's no repairing that much damage." It's cough cough years later, and I'm happy to learn my young self was incorrect. Also, I remember the tuba player was dismayed because someone stepped on the bell of her tuba. If only we'd had someone like Mr. Lee to take care of it. (* Now "Middle School." that gives you an indication of how long ago it was.)

I'm surprised the guards weren't broken. Good job for shaking too.

I remember being in band in high school during the 80's. Back then we had the budget to get all the instruments fixed each year so they always looked and sounded their best... Sad that they are cutting back on funding for music programs nowadays...

Now that’s laying pipe all night long😝You just needed the tune to complement your work👍🏻

master craftsman at work. enough said!

Awesome stuff there, you sir, are a very talented craftsman!

Fantastic!

Wow! That got it's butt handed to it at some point! Poor instrument. Glad you were able to resurrect it!

Amazing to watch! I wonder if one could build a balloon strong enough to inflate inside the tube and push some of the worst dents out?

Do you have videos repairing sousaphone necks or tuning bits? Love the videos!

¿How much of a repair like this cost?

Wes, Amazing work as usual....BUT, to be honest, I am missing the Fedora....

4:17 Wes, you're just pulling our leg now.

Serviço ótimo! 75 anos Brasil

Tnx for your work, master, tnx

Amazing

Great work!! Came out awesome! You ever come across brass instruments that lack focus on particular notes?? Is it just down to design or can it be little dents and things interfering? In this case its a US handmade trombone Martin Committee - Elkhart. I thought it would be better than a cheap Chinese horn but i think i did myself a disfavor.

Nice cap!

Amazing work on how you repair these instruments Wes! I am curious just how do they get so many dents in them? Is it from kids that take out their frustrations on them?

I want to know how it got into that state to begin with.

What was that old Souza made out of? You are a magic man.

That’s good tv!

Does the metal ever get too fatigued to maintain its shape after it has been repaired?

I have built whole car bodies from nothing but sheet steel but I would not want to be the one to fix that damaged instrument. Getting it back in shape without thinning out the metal too much would be real difficult. I can't imagine the sound would ever be quite the same, there is no way to know if you got the shape exactly the same as it originally was. How the hell did it get so damaged anyway?

I always hit like first. Great job.

so the pieces become work-hardened? Just wondering if they loose their malleability being re-shaped.

I can think of an appropriate song for the first piece of music that that instrument should play after being repaired like that: Elton John's "Someone Saved My Life Tonight".

Respekt .

Good

Wow.

If I send in my wife, can you get the dents and bumps out? As a young bey, I had the opportunity to watch two brothers in Pittsburgh. They repaired stringed instruments. So fascinating to watch them take violins and cellos apart and put them together again. I appreciate your talent and enjoy these videos.

What did you spray on it?

Do you have any sousaphones on sales?

👍

Ever wonder why it is so easy to dent a horn, but takes 10 times the force to hammer it back out?

it must be sore on the hands and arms.

the lesson to learn here is to never allow bad people to use a sousaphone if it ends up being destroyed but anyway nice work 👍

I've watched a few of your videos.Are you sure?You don't have,a magic wand?In your tool box,somewhere.Lol.

You do great work. But can you be more specific on what you exactly that that pneumatic hamer does for you? You look like using your hands to hit the instrument with it anyway. Do you used reduced force of the hit because of it? I am just a little confused about it's use.

They do warn kids not to choose the sousaphone. I hope he survived.

How in hell these instruments get so much banged up?

Where are you located? We have two sousaphones at our school that need dent, scratch, and other issues fixed and I would love to have that work be done by you

Have you ever had an instrument that you’ve had to turn down or return unfixed?

What happened to that poor sousaphone? It looks like it got dropped from the school bus on the freeway and got run over by a bunch of cars.